Hanoi threatens to close 'Cursing Noodles' shop featured on CNN show

Han Kim Thao has run her popular noodles shop in Hanoi for around 20 years. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Anh

The shop and the likes are told to stop being rude.

In the competitive restaurant scene, owners often try to create a unique selling point to keep diners interested.

Strangely, a few in Hanoi think that it is rudeness, and just as strangely, it somehow works.

But officials now think it's time to stop encouraging these kinds of behavior. The city has issued a new statement, warning that it will shut down all restaurants which yell or curse at diners.

“Restaurant owners who offend diners will have their licenses revoked,” the statement said Wednesday, adding that those who damage the image of Hanoi will not be tolerated.

The so-called "Cursing Noodles" shop and its constantly angry owner are already famous in the city. But when Anthony Bourdain paid a visit a few months ago for his CNN show “Parts Unknown," the place became notorious worldwide.

The episode, aired in the fall, shows Bourdain mingling with many locals to enjoy rice vermicelli soup with pig’s knuckles, tongue and taro stems.

Han Kim Thao, the owner, yells at customers who take time before they order, or who order something that she does not serve.

“If you like ground pork, go to the market, they’ve got lots of it,” Thao tells a customer.

“It’s best if you just go home and eat,” she tells another in her crowded shop on Ngo Si Lien Street.

After the "Parts Unknown" episode aired, Thao told local media that she will try to keep a civil tongue. She said she is usually a nice person.

“I’m only prissy when the place is crowded at around noon and when there are diners who have tricky orders,” Thao said.

Many have said the noodles are actually good, but some customers never returned.